I have covered the tech industry for decades, and every now and then the market spits out a completely random grab-bag of stocks that perfectly encapsulates the current zeitgeist. This so-called "miscellaneous" group is one of those moments. We have desperate AI pivots, quiet hardware winners, and literally a Malaysian chicken restaurant. This is stupid and here's why.

Let's start with the companies still selling the artificial intelligence dream. Baidu (BIDU.US) recently trotted out the narrative that its Q1 2026 core AI revenue finally surpassed half of its total business. Robin, that is a nice story, but your robotaxis and chip developments are burning cash faster than you can count it. Meanwhile, Rackspace Technology (RXT.US) is far less elegant. This legacy cloud player recently announced partnerships with Palantir and AMD for AI compute, sending its stock to a four-year high in July. Clinging to the coattails of actual tech giants is a survival strategy, but do you have any real moat left? Good luck with that.

The companies actually making money right now are the unsexy picks. Look at Fabrinet (FN.US). This optical packaging company quietly raked in a record USD 1.21B in Q3 2026 revenue. While Silicon Valley CEOs are on stage philosophizing about AGI, Fabrinet is in the back room counting its cash. The same goes for Ichor Holdings (ICHR.US), which makes fluid delivery subsystems for semiconductor equipment. They easily beat Q1 estimates with USD 256M in revenue and have been outperforming the sector. Why aren't more of you focusing on building solid hardware like this?

Over in the software and security aisle, things are a mess. Duolingo (DUOL.US) has spent this year prioritizing free users with new chess and music courses. Even though they grew Q1 2026 revenue by 27% to USD 292M, management signaled they would sacrifice short-term profits for user growth, causing the stock to drop nearly 12% in July. Luis, Wall Street does not have the patience for your language games. Conversely, cybersecurity upstart Rubrik (RBRK.US) just bought Strata.io in June 2026. Their revenue surged 46% over the past year, and while they aren't profitable yet, they are at least building a real identity security business.

Finally, we have to talk about the absolute absurdity at the bottom of this barrel. UP Fintech (TIGR.US) managed to pull in USD 154.9M in Q1 revenue—up 26.3%—proving that people are still trading despite the gloom. If you are bored of equities, there is Sprott Physical Copper Trust (SCOP.US), which listed on the NYSE in May 2026 and is raising USD 500M to hoard actual copper like it's the gold rush. And then there is CCH Holdings (CCHH.US), a Malaysian chicken hotpot restaurant that went public late last year and has since seen its valuation utterly decimated. Welcome to 2026: we've got copper hoarders, AI wannabes, and fried chicken.

If you take away anything from this chaotic mix, my view is clear: ignore the flashy AI narratives and focus on the unsexy infrastructure companies like Fabrinet actually doing the work. Less storytelling, more cash flow.

This article does not constitute investment advice.